


Go with the Flow

by JuliaFC



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Adrien Agreste Knows, Adrien Agreste/Marinette Dupain-Cheng Fluff, F/M, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug Identity Reveal, Oblivious Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Sabine Cheng Knows, Tired Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-14
Updated: 2021-01-14
Packaged: 2021-03-12 11:41:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,629
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28759752
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JuliaFC/pseuds/JuliaFC
Summary: Adrien might well have gotten his tall genes from Gabriel, but it's not like he'd be able to go to him for advice with this particular problem. Now, he's stuck asking Ivan and Tom for advice for kissing someone much shorter than himself.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Comments: 37
Kudos: 230





	Go with the Flow

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Khanofallorcs](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Khanofallorcs/gifts).



> **Betas:**[ **Agrestebug**](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AgresteBug/pseuds/AgresteBug) **,**[ **Etoile-Lead-Sama**](https://www.fanfiction.net/u/3180546/Etoile-Lead-Sama) **,** [**Rosehealer02**](https://archiveofourown.org/users/rosehealer02/pseuds/rosehealer02) **,**[ **Malauu-Ladynoir**](https://www.fanfiction.net/u/14274930/Malauu-Ladynoir) **,**[ **Genxha**](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Genxha/pseuds/Genxha) **,**[ **cherrybomb_marichat**](https://archiveofourown.org/tags/Miraculous%20Ladybug/works) **, Nala Fontaine and**[ **Ryderruby**](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ryderruby) **. Thank you all so much!**
> 
> **Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by (c) Thomas Astruc, TS1 Bouygues, Disney Channel, Zagtoon, Toei Animation. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.**
> 
> **Cover art by:[Rosehealer02](https://www.deviantart.com/rosehealer02) at Deviantart.**
> 
> **This is a gift for my amazing friend and beta,** [ **Khanofallorcs** ](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Khanofallorcs) **. Happy Birthday! I used one of his great prompt ideas. The prompt said:**
> 
> **_"Adrien might well have gotten his tall genes from Gabriel, but it's not like he'd be able to go to him for advice with this particular problem. Now, he's stuck asking either Ivan or Tom for advice for kissing someone much shorter than himself."_**

[](https://ibb.co/GcByyzZ)

**oOoOoOoOoOo** ****

It all started during patrol. They had spent an hour running around rooftops, and he had asked a couple of times Ladybug if she had something on her mind, or if she was just tired. Thing is, she had been much clumsier than usual and had tripped on her feet a lot. He had to grab her multiple times to keep her from falling, and while he loved being close to her, something was wrong 

“I’m alright, chaton, thanks for your concern,” had always been her answer. He couldn’t help but be worried. Her mask wouldn’t have let him see the dark circles under her eyes, but he had caught her yawning more than once and her energy level wasn’t up to par.

“I think you’re around my age, My Lady, and I know that this year at school is a stressful one, with the  _ Brevet (1) _ at the end of it and all. I also know that being Ladybug is a lot of weight on your shoulders. You shouldn’t wear yourself thin. Paris needs you!” He wanted to add that  _ he  _ needed her too, but he bit his lip and kept his mouth shut. He thought that she would have just hit him in the head and told him again that she loved the  _ other boy _ . 

“I told you I’m alright,” she said a little begrudgingly. She threw her yoyo up to grab a chimney three stories up and swung away. He followed, vaulting himself forward with his baton. He didn’t know what happened, but the next thing he knew, he was tightly wrapped up with Ladybug, her back resting against the chimney she had grabbed with her yoyo. 

The more they tried to detangle, the closer their bodies were getting, and it was becoming more and more difficult for him to keep his mind straight. Especially when the only thing he could do was gaze into those beautiful bluebell eyes that sped his heart up each time he got lost in them. Especially when every time he moved he could feel every inch of her body getting more and more pressed into his. Especially when it was so cold around them on that clear night of mid-January, but their bodies were so close that the sweat was pumping out of him in anticipation. It was as if the yoyo was trying to make them melt together, and the whole situation was driving him insane!

“Not that I'd be complaining about our predicament, My Lady, but purr-haps it would be better if you untangled us. Unless this is your way of flirting with me?” His cheeks were burning when he gave a quick glance at their entangled bodies, noting how not even a pin could have managed to fit between them. 

She started pulling the string of her yoyo, but they were still tangled up, if anything even closer than before. She gave him a strange smile, half between a grimace and a grin. Where had he seen an expression similar to that? It looked so familiar in a way but he couldn’t put his finger on the reason why! Then she leaned on him, stretching to pick her yoyo from where it was hanging down on the chimney on the top of them. She tried once, twice, three times, leaving him breathless (and somehow with his heart into his ears) every time for the even closer contact with her body. Then she let out a frustrated whimper and looked at him with a massive frown, furrowing her eyebrows. 

“I can’t reach it! Can you see if it’s easier for you?” The expression on her face when he barely had to stretch at all to reach the yoyo was absolutely priceless. He even managed to twirl the cord and the hold around their bodies loosened as he lowered his arm, and they could finally breathe again.

But as he turned towards her to give her the yoyo back and maybe tease her a little bit, he realised that she hadn’t moved from the position she was in when the rope of the yoyo was still wrapped around them. She was looking up at him, her gorgeous face beautifully flushed, her bluebell eyes shining in the darkness like stars stolen from the black canopy of the sky. 

He gulped, as his face started moving towards hers as if pulled by a magnetic force, but as he slumped down to get to her eye level, a beeping coming from her yoyo resounded in the darkness. They both looked at it, as if waking up from a dream. An akuma alert. 

Shoot. Damn Hawkmoth and his awful timing! 

Ladybug blinked and her face flushed even more if possible. With a smooth gesture, she recalled the whole cord of her yoyo inside it and then smirked at him and bumped it on his head.

“Ouch,” he said, pressing his hand on the now tender spot. 

“When have you grown so stupidly tall, Chat Noir? I nearly need a ladder to look you in the eye!”

He could only give her a small smile, but didn’t have the time to reply because a new notification beeped on Ladybug’s yoyo and on his baton too, and they headed off to reach the location of the latest attack.

oOoOoOoOoOo

It was only a couple of hours later, after getting rid of the latest unfortunate soul to cross Hawkmoth’s path, that Adrien lay down flat on his bed, his eyes closed in an attempt of getting back some sort of energy to take his clothes off and put on his pyjamas. 

“Oh, my… this akuma was the worst!” They had fought for two hours straight to get rid of this professor who had been overwhelmed with correcting exam papers and was trying to capture everybody in balls of paper to suffocate them. 

Plagg emerged from his little storage cabinet with a wheel of Camembert bigger than him in his hands. “Better if you put your pyjamas on,  _ gamin _ , and get ready for bed.” That said, he opened his mouth wide and gulped down the whole of the Camembert that was left. 

Adrien sighed. “You’re right, Plagg, sorry. I was just thinking.”

“About what?” asked the little black cat. 

“Before the akuma alert, Ladybug got tangled with me by a chimney,” he started to say.

Plagg interrupted him. “I know. Your heart was doing somersaults in your chest,  _ gamin _ , it sounded as if you were having a heart attack.”

“She’s so tiny, Plagg.” Adrien sighed again. “So petite. She didn’t even reach my bell tonight.”

“So?” asked Plagg. “I’m much smaller than her, but I’m powerful enough to destroy a nation. What’s your point?”

Adrien finally got up from his bed and started taking his clothes off. “It’s not that. I’m not questioning her authority or her leadership. I’m just—” He hesitated and fell quiet for a long moment as he put on the Ladybug spotted bottom part of his pyjamas. He took his time to put on his top and he sat at the edge of his bed again. “When we were tangled up, she was looking at me in a very strange way. Maybe it’s just my wishful thinking, but I could swear that she was as flushed as I was. And when I detangled us, she didn’t pull away from me until the akuma alert rang. I was nearly… kissing her. I was so close. Had Hawkmoth waited a minute longer!”

“I hate repeating myself." Plagg muttered mostly to himself. "What's your point?" The kwami stretched each of his words to emphasize his annoyance. Then, he flew back inside his storage cabinet and emerged with yet another wheel of Camembert, which disappeared into his mouth before Adrien could start talking again. 

“How do you kiss a girl so much shorter than you?” Adrien muttered to himself. He looked at Plagg and saw his amused grin, and sighed. “Don’t look at me like that. It’s a problem. I know I supposedly kissed her already when we faced Oblivio, but I had a growth spurt since then. And she hasn’t. Now I’m even taller!”

Plagg gave him a look of pure amusement. “Don’t ask me! I don’t have this sort of problem. My Gooiness doesn’t mind whether I kiss it or not!”

Adrien sighed. “I may have gotten the tall genes from him, but I certainly can’t ask my father for advice on this matter.” He turned his computer on to perform a search. 

But as he typed ‘How to kiss a girl shorter than you’ on his google search, Plagg whispered in his ear, “You realise that your father keeps track of your internet activities, right? If you don’t want him to know about this, you better delete that question and switch your computer off.”

Shoot, he’d nearly forgotten about that. He gave Plagg a thankful look and deleted the question, taking the kwami’s advice. He still remembered the last time he had performed a search on where to find new Ladybug action figures, and Nathalie had told him the following morning that the money in his bank account shouldn’t be used for futile purchases like that. No, Plagg was right, he definitely couldn’t look it up at home. He switched his computer off and made a mental note to stop at the school’s library the following afternoon, to look it up there as he did for his action figures and his orders of Camembert.

“Look,  _ gamin _ , I know you don’t want to ask that poor excuse of a father for advice on this, but you do have tall friends.” As Plagg said that, a mental picture of Ivan’s imposing height and Mylène minute frame came into Adrien’s mind. 

“You know, Plagg, you’re right!”

“As always,” deadplanned Plagg with a little smirk on his lips. 

Adrien looked at him funny and pretended he hadn’t heard. “I can ask Ivan maybe. Not Kim, because Ondine is about his same height, but Mylène is short, maybe Ivan can help me! 

oOoOoOoOoOo

The following day at school, Adrien was a man on a mission. He arrived nice and early and kept looking at Ivan’s seat, so much so that Nino noticed.

“‘S’up mec? Why are you looking behind you all the time today? You look phased out!”

Adrien blushed and gave Nino a sheepish look. “I need to talk to Ivan,” he said. 

Nino raised an eyebrow. “Why Ivan? What’s the matter? Can  _ I _ help you maybe?”

Adrien looked at him sheepishly again. “Uh, I don’t think so, mec.”

“I can’t believe you, Adrien, you keeping secrets from your bro?”

“Uh, no Nino, it’s just… I don’t think you would be able to help me. I just,” he gulped, “need advice on kissing.” His cheeks caught fire at Nino’s gasp. “Kissing someone short, I mean.”

“Who—” started Nino, but Adrien put a finger on his mouth and shushed him. The class was starting to fill up and Alya had arrived. He certainly didn’t want a big mouth such as Alya to know about his issue.

“It’s… complicated, Nino. I’m doing it for, uh,  _ research  _ purposes. You know,” he reached with his hand the nape of his neck and rubbed it nervously, trying to come up with the best excuse to not be figured out in seconds. “A charity asked me to kiss a girl as a prize for one of their competitions and, you know, I had a growth spurt recently. I-I wouldn’t want the winner to feel bad. So, uh, you know,” he kept rambling. 

“You could ask someone to help you practice!” said Nino conspiratorially. “There’s plenty of short girls in our class. For example Alix,” Adrien cringed, so Nino continued, "or Rose," he said, but Adrien just snorted, so Nino gave him a small smile and added, “or Marinette, maybe…?”

Adrien blushed when Nino mentioned Marinette; his best friend poked him in the ribs and chuckled knowingly. 

“Uh, no, I just need some head ups, really!” said Adrien, after having pretended to fix his shirt to poke Plagg in the head and stop him from sniggering.

“Oh, I see,” said Nino with a small smile. “Hope Ivan can help you then.” 

He turned around to wave at Alya and started happily chatting with her as she took her seat. Adrien smiled and looked for a second at his best friend relaxing and getting engrossed in conversation with his girlfriend, but then he saw the door of the classroom open and Ivan came in. Adrien breathed a sigh of relief. 

“Hi Ivan, can I talk to you for a minute? At lunch time, maybe?” he asked when the classmate in question passed his desk. Adrien’s hand reaching for the nape of his neck. The boy just looked at him flatly and nodded. “Thanks!” said Adrien with a smile.

The school morning couldn’t pass quick enough. Adrien found himself fidgeting with his fingers and chewing the cap of his pen, denting it in the process. He didn’t pay any attention to the lessons. Luckily, Mlle. Bustier had not heeded to his behaviour, considering his exemplary grades and conduct in her class.

Finally, lunchtime came and after having texted the Gorilla saying that he needed to do some research in the library for a school project, Adrien saw Ivan standing tall next to him and looked around left and right conspiratorially, then dragged him to the locker room.

“So, what did you want to talk to me about?” asked Ivan when they had sat down.

Adrien rubbed nervously the nape of his neck and looked up. “Uh, you know, can I ask you something personal?”

Ivan blushed. “O-of course. What would you need to ask someone like me?”

“Uh, you see, you’re very tall.” Adrien continued to rub the nape of his neck and look at the ceiling. “I was wondering… how do you kiss a girl much shorter than you?”

Ivan’s eyes widened and he inadvertently gasped. 

“Oh,” he said, and blushed a little, mirroring Adrien’s pose by rubbing the nape of his own neck. “It’s  _ that _ , then.”

The boy fell quiet for a long moment, too long for Adrien to bear in the anxious state he was. Adrien started fidgeting with his fingers and blushed. He panicked and thought that Ivan didn’t want to help him, as the other boy was now looking up, still scratching the nape of his neck, as if lost in thought. Adrien considered whether it was safer for him to use the same excuse he used with Nino, but he then decided that if he wanted to get advice, it was better to be truthful.

“Er, it’s a bit complicated to explain. It’s just… You don’t know her,” he finally spurted, trying to fill in the silence. After all, it was the truth. Ivan had only briefly met Ladybug the day he had been akumatised twice, but as far as he knew, that was the most his classmate had ever seen of his Lady. Or better said, the only time he had interacted directly with her. 

“I see,” Ivan said, smiling softly at Adrien. “I’m not an expert, but I’ll try my best to help you. What would you like to know?”

Suddenly, Adrien’s hands became something very interesting to look at, as his face felt very warm and he was starting to feel a bit hot at his collar. “J-just the dynamics. How do you not make her feel uncomfortable? How does it work? You know, with the bending down and all!”

Ivan’s smile grew wider. “Adrien, you’re worrying too much. You sweep her off her feet and pull her towards you. That’s what I do.” He rubbed his nape again and looked down. “But if it doesn’t work for you, maybe you can sit down with her.”

A mental image of Chat Noir sweeping Ladybug off her feet and kissing her senseless creeped into Adrien’s mind, making him blush crimson. He had to blink and shake his head a little to come back to reality and gasped when he met Ivan’s timid but curious gaze. 

“Er, thank you Ivan, that was very helpful.” He stood up as if the bench was burning his backside, his hand reaching for his nape again, a model smile spreading on his lips.

Ivan stood up after him and put a large hand on Adrien’s shoulder. “Wish I could help you more,” he said, “but don’t worry. Whoever the girl is, she’s going to be happy to kiss you.”

Adrien’s fake smile fell, as he slumped his shoulders and he lowered his head, looking down sadly. “Thanks, Ivan. I wish that it were true.” He slowly walked away towards the library, leaving a stunned and confused Ivan behind.

oOoOoOoOoOo

Adrien sat down in front of a computer at the library and turned the screen on. As he waited for the system to load, his gaze went to his shirt pocket.

“That didn’t go as well as you were hoping for, huh?” asked Plagg. 

Adrien shook his head, but as the system loaded and finally he was able to double click on Google Chrome and type his question, he heard behind his back, “Sabrina, look, that’s Adrikins!” so he quickly minimised the window, hoping to have acted fast enough to not get caught, stood up and turned around.

“Uh, hi Chloé, what are you doing in the library at lunch time?” he asked, trying to switch off the screen of the computer but failing miserably, because Chloé pounced at him and wrapped her arms around his neck in one of her signature strangling hugs. If there was something that he really despised of his oldest friend, habitually breaking into his personal space was definitely it.

“Adrikins! What were you doing with the school’s computers? You’ve got a much better internet connection at home!” She raised an eyebrow at his evident embarrassment and let go of him, pointing a finger on his chest. “And besides, looking for ways to kiss a girl.  _ You _ ? Ridiculous, utterly ridiculous.”

Shoot. He got caught. He blushed up to the neck as his hand reached for his nape. “Uh, well, you see,” he started saying but Chloé interrupted him by moving back into his personal space and looking at him straight in the eye.

“ _ You’re _ ridiculous, Adrikins. Looking stuff up online when you can do the real thing with me. You don’t have to look it up. Here!” She leaned forward, puckering her lips and closing her eyes in expectation and hugging him tight again. 

“Really, Chloé, this isn’t necessary,” he started, but Chloé's face was forcefully moving towards his, and he gulped and moved away trying his best to create more distance between his and her lips. 

“Ahem,” came somebody’s voice from their left, clearing their throat much louder than necessary. 

Adrien gave a stronger push to Chloé at the sound, managing to detangle from her tentacles and causing the blonde girl to trip on her feet and crash her face on his black t-shirt. Both Adrien and Chloé turned around and saw an annoyed and blushing Marinette looking at them with a tight frown on her face, her arms firmly folded on her chest.

“Dupain-Cheng, what are you doing here?” muttered Chloé while Adrien quickly wiped away the makeup that had got stuck on his shirt after Chloé’s face had crashed on it. 

“First off, don’t kiss people in the middle of a school library, Chloé, and second, he clearly said he didn’t want to do it. Leave him alone!” 

Marinette’s firm glare at the blonde girl who was still in his personal space made a shiver run up Adrien’s spine. That sheer stubbornness, the gleam of authoritative determination that he saw flickering through her eyes made his breath catch and his heart skip a beat. For a heartbeat, Marinette’s resolute glare reminded him of the way his Lady looked when facing an akuma. His heart started pounding in his throat, as adrenaline rushed through his veins and his eyes widened in shock.

“I do whatever I want, Dupain-Cheng. You have no authority over me.” Chloé snorted haughtily, waving her hand towards her dismissively. “This is ridiculous, utterly ridiculous.” 

“I  _ do  _ have the authority to stop you, Chloé. I’m class President, remember?” Marinette gave her a triumphant smirk. “So you either go away now, or I’ll go to the Principal to inform him of what activities you like performing in the middle of the school’s library. I’m sure he'd want a word, and not even your  _ daddy  _ would be able to help you.”

As Marinette moved her gaze from Chloé’s indignant killer look and started staring at her nails with an impertinent smile on her face, Adrien saw Sabrina approach Chloé and whisper something in her ear. Chloé huffed and stomped her foot on the floor.

“Come on, Chloé, it’s really not worth it,” said Sabrina a bit louder this time.

Chloé folded her arms on her chest. “You won this one, Dupain-Cheng, but you will pay for it one day.”

“Chloé,” said Adrien at this point, getting increasingly annoyed by the way she was talking to Marinette. “Be nice. Marinette’s right, I told you to stop, and you shouldn’t do those things in the middle of the library. Now if you could leave, please.”

Chloé looked at him with puppy eyes, faking (she had to be faking, right?) incredible distress at his words. But immediately after, she jerked her head up with a haughty ‘mhf!’, spun on her heels sharply and marched out of the room. Adrien breathed a sigh of relief. 

But his relief didn’t last long, because as he exhaled and moved his gaze from the door of the library slamming behind Chloé’s angry figure and Marinette standing next to him, his heart was in his throat again.

“Are Adrien right? I mean, is right you? Oh, bother, are you all right, Adrien?” asked Marinette in her usual talk around him. Adrien gave her a small smile. It always surprised him how Marinette could go from looking as fierce as Ladybug to be the shyest thing to cross planet Earth in a matter of seconds. It was certainly a skill.

He sighed. “Yes, I’m okay. Thanks for the help Marinette!” That said, he rubbed the nape of his neck, looked up and then looked tentatively at the seat he had stood up from when Chloé had called him earlier. He was eager to finally perform his search before their lunchtime would be over, but he didn’t want to ignore Marinette. 

“You were a b-bit… off today, s-so I cc-came here to check you out. I-I m-mean, to check u-up on you. See doing how were, I mean, how were you doing.” She was looking down now, her cheeks beautifully dusted in pink. 

“Uh, thanks for your concern,” he said, his hand again reaching for his nape. “I just wanted to come here to the library to look something up, nothing major.” 

Marinette now looked at him in the eye, a hopeful gleam in her beautiful bluebell orbs. “Anything I you help, er, I can help you with?” she asked.

Adrien’s heart went into overdrive, as he started feeling very hot under his collar. He groaned internally and wondered why the circumstances seemed so different from when Chloé had asked the exact same thing? Maybe because Nino’s words were still so vivid in his memory? Maybe because her lips looked so tempting and soft? He gulped and couldn’t help giving a quick peek, and he wished he hadn’t because his face felt so warm suddenly that he feared his cheeks had reached the same shade of red of Ladybug’s suit. 

“Uh, n-no, th-thank you,” he eventually managed to say. 

Marinette looked down, almost disappointedly. “Oh, okay.” Then she looked at him again and gave him a soft smile. “If your mind change, er, if you change your mind, shout at me. Uh, I mean, give me a shout.” She gave him a quick glance and for some reason, she blushed deep red when she crossed his gaze. Even his breath caught up and his heart went into overdrive as his gaze got lost into the deep ocean blue of the beautiful eyes that were looking back at him. 

“I’ll remember that, thank you Marinette,” he eventually managed to spurt out and as he did that, he heard the sound of the bell announcing the end of the lunch break. Shoot. There went his chance of getting advice on his issue on the internet. He groaned internally as he sat down to turn the computer off.

“Okay, I’ll class you, I mean, I’ll see you in class.” Marinette waved and walked out of the library a bit stiffly, as he indulged on the computer seat a little longer, to sigh and look longingly at the black screen.

“It didn’t go as you were hoping for  _ again _ , huh?” asked Plagg from the internal pocket of his shirt. Adrien let his head fall on top of the computer desk and gently banged his forehead against its hard wood. 

“Nope,” he said in between bangs. Then he sighed and stood up from the chair to go back to class.

oOoOoOoOoOo

That night, it was Chat Noir’s turn to do a solo patrol. He loved those evenings, when he could run freely across the rooftops and let go of all the energy he accumulated during his stressful day. And this time he needed it more than other times. But besides helping a little kitten get down from a tree and holding the hand of an old lady crossing the road in the dark, he didn’t really find anything more to do. 

He was slowly jumping across the rooftops around the manor, dreading the thought of going back into his golden prison, when he saw someone struggling with a massive bag coming out of a small van in front of Marinette’s boulangerie. Of course, he immediately jumped down the roof onto the road and lent a paw, crossing the gaze of a very surprised and thankful Tom Dupain.

“Oh, thank you, son,” he said in between heavy pants, “sometimes I don’t realise how heavy these bags of flour can be, even for one like me.”

Chat Noir gave him a small smile. “Do you need more help, M. Dupain? I’ve got nothing else to do.”

“Uh, I don’t think it’s necessary for you to waste time helping me unload my van, Chat Noir. I’m sure you’ve got much more important superhero things to do.” Now it was Tom’s turn to rub the nape of his neck and look up. 

“Nah,” he said, stretching his arms. “It’s okay, M. Dupain, I was going back home after a boring round of patrol. I would love to help.” 

“That’s very kind of you, son. I really appreciate it.” Tom opened up the back door of his van and showed him the load of supplies he was meant to take inside the boulangerie. Chat Noir started dutifully unloading the van, taking turns with Tom until the last bag was safely stored inside. When he saw that the back of the van was empty, Chat Noir slapped off his suit the bits of flour that had fallen on his arms and bust, and smiled at Marinette’s dad warmly.

“I think my job’s finished here, M. Dupain.”

Tom smiled back. “Thank you so much, son. It would have taken me much longer to unload the van without your help.”

“That’s okay,” said the hero in black. “It’s just part of normal patrol duties.” He stretched his arms again left and right and grabbed his baton from the small of his back to head home. Now he was really starting to get tired and wouldn’t have said no to a warm shower and a good night of sleep.

“Wait, son,” said Tom, blocking him in his tracks. “I’m really grateful for your help. Would you care for a couple of croissants and a mug of hot chocolate to thank you for your kindness?”

Chat Noir opened his mouth to say no. He really should have said no, and he knew it well. However, when Tom mentioned the word ‘croissants’, the words that he wanted to push out of his mouth got suddenly forgotten and instead he smiled warmly and said, “I would be delighted to accept, M. Dupain!”

“Good,” said Tom happily. “Then follow me, it’s not nice to eat standing up in the cold. You’re going to be much more comfortable on the couch.”

Chat Noir opened his mouth to say that it wasn’t necessary, that he could just get the croissants and go home, but Tom's hand fell on his shoulders and the imposing man pushed the boy forward towards the back entrance of the boulangerie. 

When they reached the small apartment where Marinette’s family lived at the top of the shop, Chat Noir was met by the greeting face of Sabine Cheng. 

"Oh, good evening, dear," said Sabine with a smile.

Chat Noir smiled back. "Good evening Mrs Cheng."

"He helped me unload the van," explained Tom. "I promised him some croissants and a mug of hot chocolate."

"That's why you came back in so early?" said Mrs. Cheng, and then smiled at the boy as her husband nodded. Tom bent down a little and placed a soft peck on Sabine’s lips. Chat Noir found himself gawking at the scene. Oh yes, Sabine was much shorter than Tom too. Maybe he could inquire with them about his issue?

He stepped through the door of Marinette’s apartment, waringly looking left and right a little embarrassed, when he felt a hand on his shoulder and turned around to look into Sabine’s warm gaze.

"Make yourself at home, dear. I'll get the chocolate ready."

"I'll go fetch some croissants," said Tom cheerfully. Chat Noir could only sit on the couch and look around, a painful knot taking hold of his throat at the warm welcome. 

His gaze darted around the room, taking in all the little details: the photos hung on the wall showing happy family moments, the cover of Jagged Stone's album that Marinette had designed proudly displayed at the side of the television, the awards and certificates won by the boulangerie showing in full display at the other side, the little mess on the kitchen table, the cozy blanket wrapped loosely around the couch. Small things, but they filled the room of a lived-in atmosphere that was so different from the cold and clinical feeling of the way too many rooms of the Manor. 

It reminded Chat Noir of happier times, when his father hadn't still been discovered by Audrey Bourgeois and they lived in a self-contained little flat at the top of a tall building. Small, maybe not grand looking, but full of little details like those, that made it feel like home. As he waited for Tom and Sabine to come back to the lounge, the boy sniffled a little and wiped his masked eyes to take away a couple of tears that had sneaked their way out of the edge of his mask. 

"There you go, dear," said Sabine, presenting in front of Chat Noir a steaming hot mug that smelled like heaven.

The boy picked it up carefully from the handle and stared in awing daze at the white and pink marshmallows floating on top of the brown chocolatey deliciousness. He sniffed at it happily, as the gorgeous smell of chocolate filled his sensitive nostrils.

"Mmmmmmmh," he sighed, "I'd happily unload another twenty vans for something like this." He had said that to himself, but was surprised to hear a soft chuckle coming from his left. When he looked there, he saw Tom and Sabine sitting on the couch next to him.

"That could always be arranged, son," joked Tom with an amused gleam in his eyes, causing him to blush. He leaned forward, pushing a large serving plate full of delicious looking croissants in his direction. They would be the death of him. Nathalie would never forgive him if he ate that kind of food at this time at night.

Of course, such thought didn’t impede him from nearly clearing the plate. Nope, not in the slightest.

"That was amazing, M. Dupain, Mme. Cheng, thank you so much!" said Chat Noir, taking the last bite of a delicious pistachio filled croissant.

"It was our pleasure, son. If there’s anything else we can do for you, don't hesitate to ask," said Tom truthfully. As he said that, he placed a soft kiss on his wife’s forehead and Sabine moved a little more comfortably into his arms, giving Chat Noir a warm smile. 

"Actually, if you don’t mind, I would have a question for you," said the boy, his hand reaching nervously for the nape of his neck. How does one ask how to kiss a girl shorter than you without making it awkward?

"Feel free to ask," was Tom’s frank reply. 

"Uh, well, the thing is…" he started, his heart suddenly pounding madly in his chest. "I w-was wondering… you're very tall, M. Dupain."

"Yes?" Tom raised an eyebrow.

"Uh, ah, maybe you could help me with something. How—" He gulped. "How do you kiss a girl much shorter than you?" There. He said it. He breathed better after the last word came out of his lips. 

Tom looked at Sabine in the eye, and both chuckled.

"No need to feel embarrassed of asking, dear," said Sabine cheerfully. 

"Yes, Sabine is right, son. It's ok to ask, don't worry." He smiled softly at his wife, and then gave Chat Noir a look full of mischief, the kind of look that he'd seen so many times on Marinette’s face. When she wasn't talking to  _ him _ , of course.

"The best way is to lay down in bed," said Tom, a massive grin spreading all over his lips. "Height doesn't matter then."

As Tom mentioned the word  _ bed _ , Chat Noir couldn’t help seeing in his mind’s eye Ladybug curling up happily in his embrace, in bed, her face beautifully flushed. He blushed crimson.

"Oh, Tom. Don't say those kinds of things to poor Chat Noir," Sabine scolded him. "He's only a child!"

Tom huffed and folded his arms on his chest. “Well, he can’t be that much of a child anymore because he’s the one who asked!” Then, the imposing man put a hand to his chin and scratched the skin and the stubbles on it, twisting playfully his thick mustache with his index and thumb. “By the way, son, how short is this short girl you want to kiss? I mean, normal short or Marinette’s short?”

Chat Noir didn’t think and just put his hand flat and pointed at a place on his chest just a little below his bell. Tom looked at it pointedly, his thumb and fingers scratching the stubbles on his chin always more nervously. “Right,” he said eventually. “So,  _ Marinette’s  _ height. Interesting.”

Chat Noir nearly choked on his hot chocolate. 

What had Tom said? He started coughing madly, fighting to breathe as his thoughts unwillingly ran to the day he had seen Ladybug and Marinette next to each other, when they had fought Kwamibuster. Yes, Marinette was indeed the  _ same  _ height of his Lady. As he managed to start breathing again and found his composure, Chat Noir’s eyes became small slides in his face, as his hand reached the side of his head and scratched it thoughtfully.

He thought mentally at all of their other friends, and although some of them were even shorter than Marinette (his thoughts went to Alix, and Rose, to say two), it was indeed unusual that two people were so  _ exactly  _ the same height. The more Chat Noir thought back to the day of Kwamibuster, and compared the two girls, the more he was left wondering. 

Marinette and Ladybug had… the  _ exact  _ same height, but not only, they had the same  _ build _ . The same  _ hairstyle _ . The same hair  _ colour  _ even. His thoughts went back to his friend Marinette, as the frown on his face deepened. To think about it, Marinette (except around him) had a very similar attitude to that of his Lady. He remembered the incident of just a few hours earlier in the library and how his heart had started pounding in his throat when Marinette’s behaviour had seemed so similar to Ladybug’s when facing Chloé. 

Marinette was  _ creative _ . She was  _ intelligent _ . She was  _ resourceful _ .  _ Determined _ .  _ Resolute _ . How many times had he wondered in the past if she could be Ladybug? The only reason why he had stopped was because he had seen her next to Ladybug against Kwamibuster.

But as Chat Noir kept comparing the two girls in his head, he started to wonder whether it had been possible that his Lady had played a trick to him that day. After all, Marinette had been using a Miraculous that allowed her to create copies of herself. And she had unified it with other Miraculouses. Hang on a second! Did she use even the  _ Fox Miraculous _ ? He concentrated, trying to think back to that day. The fact that it had happened quite a while back made it a bit hard to remember, but he was pretty sure that he had seen one of the copies of Multimouse unified with Trixx. 

But if that was the case, was the whole plot device of Marinette taking the Miraculous off just a plan to trick  _ him _ ? But why?

Then, it dawned on him.  _ Tikki  _ had been seen in the same place as Plagg. He too had had to lie in order to pretend that he wasn’t a student at Françoise Dupont. Did his Lady put on a trick just to get  _ him  _ off her scent? But if that was the case, it meant that…

_ ‘Oh. My. God.’ _ He put a hand on his mouth and felt all blood drain from his face. 

“—oir? Chat Noir? Are you okay, son?” Tom was trying to get his attention, and as he noticed it, Chat Noir realised that he had completely phased out. He looked at Tom in pure and utter horror and gulped awkwardly. Was he really asking advice on how to kiss Ladybug to… Ladybug’s  _ father _ ? Jesus, how dense could he be?

Hang on a second. Marinette had told him that she loved him once. Her father had been akumatised because of it. But yet, his Lady had always said that she loved someone else. How was that even possible? Was she lying?

He thought back to the night Marinette had told Chat Noir that she loved him and the situation they were in. His eyes widened. Of course! His Lady was an evil genius. The cute kind of evil genius.

“Chat Noir?” called again Tom, waving a hand in front of his eyes. The boy blinked once. Then twice. Then looked at Tom as he’d seen him for the first time and blushed deep red, thinking at the advice that Tom had given him just a couple of minutes before. 

“Uh, yes, I’m fine. Good, I’m good. Yes.  _ Totally  _ good,” he muttered. 

Tom gave him a questioning look, his hand again reaching for his chin. “I see,” he said thoughtfully. “You know, son, I’m flattered that you finally noticed my little girl, but I must say that you’re a bit late now.”

Chat Noir blinked again. 

Tom raised an eyebrow, and must have completely misunderstood his panic and his embarrassment, because he gave him a pat on the back and said, “I’m really sorry, my boy, but my dear Marinette isn’t in love with you any more.” Then he put his hand to his chin again, looking up in a thoughtful pose. “Well, at least I think so. True, she had a little crush on you at some point, but she quickly went back pining on model boy.”

And that’s when Chat Noir choked on his hot chocolate again. For real this time. Well, at least that was a good thing because it gave him a reason for his face to turn crimson. He coughed spasmodically, trying to put some air in his lungs, and Tom started patting his back, the frown on his face showing how deeply concerned he was for the young hero.

“Maybe giving you that hot chocolate wasn’t a good idea. You don’t seem to like it much, you keep choking on it,” muttered Tom thoughtfully. “Either that, or you’re getting really upset at the thought of having competition.”

“Co-competition?” he managed to say in between coughs. 

Tom nodded, still lost in his thoughts. “Yes, of course. He’s a cute boy, that Agreste kid, I understand how it may be upsetting for you to be in competition with him, but you see, my Marinette had loved the boy since the first day she met him.”

Chat Noir coughed some more. She did what?

“Yes, he had given her his umbrella and she came back home with googly eyes.” The man sighed. “Ah, teenage love, it’s so dramatic and beautiful.”

Was it getting really hot in there? Or was it just him?

“B-but… I thought she liked Luka!” he finally managed to spurt out. 

Tom raised an eyebrow at him and then chuckled softly. “Ah, no, my boy. Luka is a great kid. Yes, he really is. Handsome, kind and gentle. Marinette likes him a lot but… not that way. No, the only other boy that ever made her heart beat beside the Agreste kid was  _ you _ . When you rejected her, she went back pining over him. You should see the amount of pictures she has on her wall about him. It’s really sweet. She always gets so upset, because she can’t put two words together around him. She reminds me of myself, actually. I was the same with Sabine.”

As Tom mentioned about his wife, Chat Noir’s gaze moved to the tiny Chinese woman sitting on the couch next to them. He wished he hadn’t when he did, because Sabine was giving him a very,  _ very  _ stern look. Her eyes were mere slits in her face and her fingers were tapping nervously on her hot chocolate mug. 

When she noticed that he was looking at her, she smiled softly and intervened, “Tom, dear, don’t be silly. Our Chat Noir here is only a  _ friend  _ of Marinette, are you not, dear boy?” Chat Noir felt even more blood rushing to his face, as he started nodding frantically and nervously. Sabine’s emphasis on the word ‘friend’ made shivers run down his spine, and so did the way she was talking by looking at him straight in the eye. “You love  _ Ladybug _ , don’t you?” She raised an eyebrow. “You were very clear about that the day Tom was akumatised.”

Another long look. Chat Noir felt he could hardly breathe under Sabine’s scrutinising gaze. “Uh, well, yeah…” he managed to say, but Sabine’s lips immediately pursed and the boy gulped.

“You’re talking about her, right?  _ She’s  _ the girl you’re planning to kiss.”

The way she looked at him. Her posture, the amused gleam in her eyes. Everything made Chat Noir’s heart pound in his chest. Oh dear. He had a very bad feeling in his gut. A really bad feeling. A feeling that Sabine Cheng knew what he had just discovered for a very long time. And a horrible realisation hit him, his face flushing inhumanly hot as he nodded and then crouched on himself, in an attempt to disappear from the world. 

Sabine Cheng had just recognised  _ him  _ too. The knowing smile on her lips at his embarrassment as she sipped more chocolate from her mug was a massive tell.

_ Shoot _ ! He was so screwed!

He expected that Sabine was going to tell him off. He expected that she was going to highlight the fact that he should leave her little girl alone, get out of her house and never come back. He expected her to explain to Tom her discovery and make sure that Chat Noir knew where his boundaries stood. What he  _ didn’t  _ expect was for Sabine to smile softly at him, put a had on his shoulder, and say,

“I think you just need to do it, my boy.” She smiled again when he opened his eyes wide, and that’s when Chat Noir  _ knew  _ that Sabine knew, and Sabine knew that  _ he  _ knew. “Don’t overthink it, just go with the flow and you and your Ladybug will find the way. It’s much easier to do than to think or talk about it.”

Chat Noir’s face was renewed in its warmth as Sabine gave him another soft look and patted gently on his shoulder a couple of times. 

“Maman? Papa? What’s going on here?” came Marinette’s voice from behind him, causing his heart to nearly come to a halt. He stood up from the couch as if it burned and looked at Marinette with a nervous smile, his hand reaching for the nape of his neck.

“Uh, Marinette, hi!” he managed to say.

She looked surprised to see him. “Chat Noir? What are you doing here?”

He looked at her in the eye and his heart skipped a beat. How could he not recognise those eyes until now? His mouth gaped open as his gaze got lost in the ocean blue depths of those beautiful bluebell orbs. His gaze ran to her ears, and noticed for the first time the black round earrings. They looked so simple and unimportant that he had never really paid attention to them, but suddenly, he realised that they were much more than they looked like. 

She was breathtakingly gorgeous in her pyjamas, her cheeks tinged in pink as her eyes widened for the surprise of finding him there. But he did notice the dark marks under her eyes and how tired she looked. Very odd, he hadn't noticed these details in school. Marinette must have become very skilled at hiding the signs of her tiredness behind natural looking make up!

“It’s all right, dear,” said Sabine, causing him to jump off his skin. He gave Sabine a worried look, but the elder woman just smiled and continued, “Chat Noir was so kind to help Tom unload his van during his patrol earlier. We offered him a drink and a snack before he headed  _ home _ .”

She winked at him and Chat Noir smiled nervously, his hand again reaching for his nape. 

“Uh, yes, I was… about to go. Need to go home. Really. It’s getting late.” He nervously moved from the couch and started walking towards the lounge’s window, in what he hoped was a casual walk.

"Uh, and even you, Marinette. You should have a good rest. You look a bit tired," he said before turning around as he reached the window, and opening it carefully, his model smile stamped on his lips. "Have nice dreams, Marinette and don't worry, you can rest safely. I'm always around to keep guard!" 

She raised an eyebrow and gave him a skeptical look, but he really hoped that she would listen to him and get some sleep. “Now if you don't need any more help from me today, I’ll have to s- _ cat _ !”

His gaze moved from Marinette’s stunned face to Tom’s stern look to Sabine’s warm smile and he waved nervously, as Tom thoughtfully said, “Oh, okay. Thanks for your help again, son. I would still be unloading that van if it weren’t for you.” Chat Noir’s model smile didn’t leave his lips as he waved again nervously, picked up his baton and bolted out of the window.

“What was all that about?” asked Marinette, raising an eyebrow as she grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and started walking back to the stairs that brought up to her room.

“Just what I said, dear. Don’t worry.” She smiled softly at her daughter as she walked up the stairs. “You know how your father is. He managed to embarrass the poor boy by just having a casual conversation with him.”

Marinette sighed and rolled her eyes before opening the trapdoor and disappearing into her room. 

"And Marinette?" The girl popped her head down the trapdoor again at the sound of her mother’s voice. "Chat Noir was right. Try to have a good night of sleep please. You definitely need it!"

Marinette nodded and then, her head disappeared and Sabine looked at the trapdoor for some time. Then she moved to the window and stared at the shape of the hero in black jumping across rooftops in the distance. She put the mug of the now not so hot any more chocolate and gave it a further sip, her fingers drumming on the smooth surface of the mug. 

“A penny for your thoughts, honey?” asked Tom, approaching her from her back and depositing a soft kiss in the crook of her neck. 

She smiled softly at him, her free hand reaching his cheek and stroking it fondly. “I think we will need to have a little talk with Marinette soon, dear.”

“Talk? About what?” Tom looked his wife in the eye and she smiled again noticing the surprise in his gaze.

She stroked his cheek as her eyes got a serious gleam in them. “You know, the birds and the bees?”

“Oh,  _ that  _ talk,” said Tom casually. Then he widened his eyes and looked at his wife in shock. “Wait, what?” 

Sabine just chuckled and walked away.

oOoOoOoOoOo

Adrien had spent the following couple of weeks on tenterhooks. 

When he had landed in his room that night and had released his transformation, he had sat down on the edge of his bed and had looked at the empty space in front of him, as if transfixed. Plagg had flown in front of his nose and had spent an uncharacteristically long period of time without thinking of his cheese, just waving his paws in front of Adrien’s bewildered eyes and trying to bring him back to reality.

“World to Adrien?” he whispered as his electric green eyes stared at him with a hint of mockery, almost scanning his entire soul. “Anybody there?”

Finally, after a considerable amount of time, Adrien blinked and looked at his little black friend really seeing him. “Uh? Oh, Plagg, it's you.”

“Who else?” retorted the little God of Destruction. “So, this time it went  _ better  _ than you had thought, right?”

Adrien looked down, his hands in his hair. “Better? How can it be better when Marinette’s mum figured me out?”

“I’m not talking about that,” was the little feline smooth reply, “but about the things you learned and understood.”

Adrien sighed and his gaze softened again, getting once more lost in his thoughts. Then, he gave himself a limb push and crashed on his bed on his back, his arms and legs wide on his mattress. “She’s Ladybug,” he whispered to himself. “Marinette!”

Plagg also landed on his bed, after zipping to his cabinet and emerging with a big wheel of Camembert on each paw. “Yes? Tell me something I  _ didn’t  _ know.”

“She loves me.  _ I _ was the boy.” Adrien sighed again. “At least, according to her dad. That’s why she was so tongue tied in front of me.”

Plagg scoffed into his mouth a wheel of Camembert bigger than him and chewed on it for a few seconds before replying, “Yes?  _ Again _ , tell me something I didn’t know already.”

Adrien raised his head slightly, to look at his furry friend with a frown. “You mean that you knew?” 

“Yep,” said Plagg, popping the p with evident pleasure. Then, he smirked as he gave him a look full of mockery. “About everyone knew. Except you, of course.”

Adrien huffed. “Great.” 

He pouted as he moved to his left side, staring into Plagg’s electric eyes. He was quiet for a little while, as Plagg savoured with small bites the second wheel of Camembert which, from the stench, must have been one he had been saving for special occasions. 

“What are you going to do now?” asked Plagg as he curled lazily on his pillow near Adrien’s head.

Adrien turned on his back again and closed his eyes. Plagg had nearly given up waiting for an answer, thinking that probably his chosen had fallen asleep, when Adrien opened his eyes and spoke again. 

“I need to do something. To surprise her, to sweep her off her feet.”

Plagg smirked at him, giving him a smug look. “Put a nice red bow on your head and tell her that you’re hers. That’s going to sweep her off her feet, believe me.”

Adrien laughed. “You’re terrible, Plagg!” he eventually said. 

“I’m just telling the truth,  _ gamin _ .”

Adrien turned around again to look at his furry friend. “Valentine’s day is coming. That’s when it’s going to be. I’ll need to set up a plan of action.”

“For what?” said the little cat.

“Operation Kissing Marinette. How does that sound?” 

Plagg sighed as Adrien chuckled and turned around the other side, readily falling asleep. “Now, that’s a heart attack I want to see, and enjoy!” he said, curling up a bit more on the pillow and finally falling asleep himself.

oOoOoOoOoOo

And that’s how he had come to today’s date, Valentine’s day. He had done plenty of research, analysed the technicalities of giving a kiss to a shorter girl with great precision (well, at least in theory!), and set up his surprise with the most possible details ever. He had ordered a printed card, requested a massive bunch of roses from the most expensive florist in Paris. He had also revised with Plagg what he was going to say until Plagg felt that the words were coming out of his ears. He had insisted so much that the little kwami had requested a big batch of well aged Camembert as a reward for having patiently (sort of) listened to his rambling all that long. 

Yet, Adrien was there, his massive bunch of roses still secured away in his locker, his card still inside his bag, because he had spent all day trying to have a chance to talk to Marinette, but the world just seemed to be against him. 

First of all, every corner that he turned, he was faced with yet another girl holding a heart shaped card in her hands and wanting to tell him how much she loved him. He should have been used to that by now, counting that it had happened already the other Valentine’s day he had attended school at, but today it felt much more annoying than it had been the previous year. Even because he wasn't the type to just leave a poor girl heart broken, he had to take the card, or the present they had made for him, thank them and gently reject them trying his best to not upset them too much. Which meant that on many occasions, he had lost his chance of talking to Marinette because he had been busy rejecting another girl.

Then, as sudden and unplanned as anything else that had ever happened in his relationship with his masked partner, it happened. Marinette was coming down the stairs to the school’s hall, deep in conversation with Alya. 

“Can you believe that, Alya?” she was saying, a frown of pure exasperation furrowing her brows. “They spent the whole evening yesterday talking to me about it. As if I needed to get the talk. I mean, it’s really unlikely that—”

And then, she put a foot the wrong way and she tripped off the stairs. Adrien was at the bottom of the stairs, a mere few steps away from her, and the second he saw her falling, his cat reflexes kicked in. He lunged forward, grabbing her in his arms and holding her up, so that she wouldn’t get hurt. Their gazes met, their faces mere centimeters from each other. He was so close that he could count the freckles on her nose and his face flushed in warmth as his gaze got lost in those pieces of sky she had in place of eyes. 

“I’ve got you,” he said breathlessly, at the same time as she whispered a choked, “Thank you.”

And that’s when Adrien took his chance. The massive speech that he had prepared long forgotten, as was the bunch of flowers in his locker and the card sitting in his bag. He just leaned slightly more forward and pressed his lips to hers. 

And as the butterflies filled his stomach and a strong electric shock ran down his spine, he understood the depth of Sabine’s words. She was right. She had been right all along. He didn’t need to overthink it. He just needed to go with the flow.

Fin

* * *

_Glossary:_

  1. _Brevet = Final exams at the end of Collège in France_



* * *

* * *

**Author's Note**

**Hello! This is a story I wrote using a prompt written by my awesome beta Khan, and it's a gift for his birthday, which happens to be today. Happy birthday, Khan! Hope you liked how I developed your great idea, and hope you had the best birthday ever!**

**Hope even you readers have liked the story, and I hope you will leave me a comment, review or kudos. Your comments are what keep me motivated, so feel free to drop a note! Have a great continuation of the week and I'll see you in the week-end for chapter 2 if "The Dawn of the Last Battle"**

**Until then,**

**Bug out!**

**Ps: if you love Miraculous and Fanfictions and want to meet other writers (even me!) and discuss ideas, please join our Miraculous Discord Server** [ **Miraculous Fanworks** ](https://discord.gg/mlfanworks) **! For FFN, discord dot gg slash mlfanworks**


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